LAKESIDE Hammers as good as booked a place in the KO Cup final after an impressive performance at Swindon last night.Swindon were without Matej Zagar and Lakeside took full advantage to pull back an early deficit, before Adam Shields split the Robins' pairing in the final race to secure a 46-44 victory.

LAKESIDE Hammers as good as booked a place in the KO Cup final after an impressive performance at Swindon last night.

Swindon were without Matej Zagar and Lakeside took full advantage to pull back an early deficit, before Adam Shields split the Robins' pairing in the final race to secure a 46-44 victory.

Tonight Lakeside ride the second leg at home and will be big favourites to progress.

Swindon amassed a six point lead after race six but successive 5-1 advantages from Lakeside in heats seven and eight handed the lead to the visiting side. A further 4-2 in race eleven extended Lakeside's advantage to four points, before three successive 3-3 results followed.

Requiring a 5-1 in the concluding race to obtain a draw, Swindon were thwarted by a tenacious ride from Adam Shields who was able to split the Robins' pairing in the closing stages of the race.

The Swindon scorecard was headed by Leigh Adams who notched an immaculate full fifteen point maximum, Elsewhere, Simon Stead notched eight points from his five ride schedule whilst Cory Gathercole's eye catching run of form continued with a paid ten haul.

Lakeside were well served by double figure hauls from both Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson. The Hammers' middle order duo excelled throughout and were the backbone of Lakeside's success.

Leigh Adams notched a comfortable tapes to flag victory in the opener after riding a commanding Abbey Stadium first corner. Meanwhile, Richard Sweetman showed great speed to dive inside Lee Richardson on the opening lap and fended off British rider in the early stages. Richardson did however swoop back past Sweetman towards the conclusion to ensure an opening heat points share.

A re-run heat two saw a terrific battle rage out front between Lakeside's Phil Morris and Swindon's new signing Paul Hurry. The two British riders engaged in an enthralling scrap that eventually saw Morris prevail by the narrowest of margins. Further back, Cory Gathercole successfully fended off the persistent attentions of a hard charging Stuart Robson.

Lakeside took the lead with a well worked heat three 5-1 which saw the Hammers' pairing of Davidsson and Shields pass both Swindon riders. Davidsson executed a fine lap one turn four pass of Travis McGowan to take the lead whilst Shields dived underneath McGowan in the closing stages.

Swindon immediately drew level with a 5-1 heat advantage through Jurica Pavlic and Cory Gathercole. The Robins' duo conjured solid starts and rode to a largely untroubled victory.

A messy start to heat five saw Simon Stead gain the ascendancy. Travis McGowan filled third spot behind Joonas Kylmakorpi whilst Lee Richardson didn't progress past the starline.

An exciting race six followed as Swindon collected their second five one of the evening. Leigh Adams rode to an untroubled victory out front whilst Australian youngster Richard Sweetman fought tenaciously with Lakeside reserve Phil Morris and swooped past the Hammers' rider on the third lap. The resultant 5-1 shuffled Swindon's advantage to six points.

The lively Lakeside duo of Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson slashed Swindon's lead to just two points with a well acquired heat seven 5-1. A second successive 5-1 moved the visiting side into a two point lead as Joonas Kylmakorpi and Phil Morris combined.

Two points shares ensued as Kauko Nieminen rode to a comfortable heat nine victory before Leigh Adams recovered from a slow start to majestically move past the Lakeside duo iof Shields and Davidsson in heat ten.

Lakeside shuffled their lead to four points with a hard fought 4-2 in heat eleven that saw Lee Richardson and Jurica Pavlic race closely throughout. It was eventually Richardson who prevailed after nipping underneath Pavlic on the back straight of lap three. Meanwhile, Joonas Kylmakorpi collected third spot after Paul Hurry suffered an engine failure in the early stages.

A re-run heat twelve saw Lakeside's Adam Shields ride a brave first turn and charge past Simon Stead on the back straight. The Hammers' Captain romped to a comfortable victory and the resultant points share maintained Lakeside's four point advantage.

Two further points shares followed in races thirteen and fourteen as Swindon were unable to reduce Lakeside's four point lead.

Requiring a 5-1 to draw the meeting, an exciting climax followed in heat fifteen as the Swindon combination of Leigh Adams and Simon Stead hit the front. Lakeside's Adam Shields chased Stead throughout and forged a route past the Brit on the back straight of the final lap.

The resultant 4-2 in Swindon's favour cut Lakeside's margin of victory to two points and left the Robins requiring a win at the Hammers' Purfleet raceway tonight.